


Bathroom talks

by Emunk



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Crying, Draco Malfoy Needs a Hug, Friendship, Gen, Hogwarts Sixth Year, Hurt/Comfort, Moaning Myrtle's Bathroom, draco's quest, i'm just not over their friendship in the book, myrtle and draco friendship, myrtle comforts draco
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-21 09:48:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30019938
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emunk/pseuds/Emunk
Summary: Draco is having a hard time but no one to talk to. No one except for the ghost of a girl, living in a bathroom. So when everything becomes too much for him he comes to her, searching for the comfort he needs so badly. And Myrtle gives it to him willingly.It's about a lonely, scared boy and a long-dead girl and how she could be the only one who can get him to help himself.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Moaning Myrtle
Kudos: 2





	Bathroom talks

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for my English class and thought I might share it with anybody who is interested.  
> During my latest re-read of the sixth book the scene with Draco and Myrtle and the one where she talks about him hit me quite hard. Since then I wanted to write something about their weird and unexpected friendship, so here we are.   
> Myrtle might be a bit ooc but I really wanted someone to kick Draco in the ass - after comforting him of course - so he would finally do the right step.  
> Anyway, just enjoy reading (or don't, whatever you want)

The sky was cloudy and the wind frosty when Draco Malfoy went into the girl’s bathroom. Under his robe he was shivering and his face was paler than ever. But it was nothing compared to the greyish-silver skin of the girl who was waiting for him. She floated a few inches above the wet floor, as transparent as ever.  
“Hello Draco”, she greeted him, a smile appearing on her thin lips, “I already thought you wouldn’t come today.” Draco tried to mirror her smile but failed miserably. “Have I ever let you down, Myrtle?” Sympathy flooded her face, unnoticed by Draco who sank down on the wall by the washbasins. “Never.”

A few minutes were spent in silence in which Myrtle gave Draco the time he needed to collect himself. It was always like this when he came to visit her and she was long used to him sitting there, huddled together and crying without a tone. She waited patiently until Draco finally took a deep breath, rubbed his face free of tears and looked up at her.  
“So, you wanna tell me about your day?”, he asked, voice thick and raw. She took the invitation and told him about the fight between two girls she heard in the prefect bathroom, which was (obviously) about a guy. With her words filling the cold room, Draco let his head sink against the tiles behind him, relaxing for the first time in days. 

Myrtle talked for what felt like hours, going from one topic to another until there was nothing more she could think about. The more time passed after her last spoken word, the heavier the quietness weighed on her. Is pressed her to the ground until she was no longer able to hold back what she wanted to mention over the last months.  
“Draco, you know how much I adore our talks and just how much our friendship means to me. Thanks to you I am finally not alone anymore, after over fifty years that I have spent all by myself. And I am incredibly grateful for it. But this is not a solution for you.” Wrinkles of scepticism appeared on his forehead but she gave him no chance to protest. “I just have to address the elephant in the room. I am dead. But you are not. You are alive and you cannot keep hiding from your life by staying with the imprint of a soul. You need to get out there and do something!”

His expression hardened and he straightened his shoulders. “You’ve got no idea what you are talking about.” But Myrtle wouldn’t let go. “I may not know the details of your problems, but that is because you always beat around the bush.” “You better be thankful for that, ignorance is bliss”, he snorted. It was an odd sound since his voice was still rough from all the tears.  
With a sad little smile she shook her head. “There is no bliss for a ghost. You can talk to me. If you just open up –“

“No, Myrtle! Everything has gotten out of hand! I never wanted any of this and now… Now it seems like everything I do is making matters worse. I can’t do it... I can’t…” His voice was nothing more than a rough whisper, his body shaking uncontrollably. “It will not work, it cannot work… but if I don’t do it soon… he will kill me…” “Oh no my dear…”, she said compassionately, “tell me what it is. I can help you.” “Nobody can help me! I am as good as dead.” Tears streamed down his pale face and fell on the dirty floor he still sat on.   
Overwhelmed with commiseration and confusion at the same time Myrtle frowned. “Well, right now you’re clearly not dead, so –“ 

“You don’t understand! I’ve created the perfect storm and it is all my fault! I got caught up in something I didn’t understand before and then it was already too late.” His voice was soaked in pain. “It’s never too late! If you could just wrap your pretty head around this fact. You made one bad choice, so what? Everybody does that and no one can expect perfect choices only, especially not from a child.” It was as if he hadn’t heard a word she was saying, his head constantly swinging from left to right. “I am no child. Not anymore.” “Yes you are! You’re only sixteen, just because you were forced into the adult world doesn’t mean you actually are one.” 

Slowly she floated towards him, the urge to touch and comfort him nearly impossible to suppress. Draco kept silent, his lips nothing more than a thin white line.

“You know, we’re not that different after all. We are both sensitive, life is – or was – hard to us and we are lonely.” Now it was on Draco to put on a sad smile, tears still glittering on his hollow cheeks.  
“Maybe it is true what they all say. Birds of a feather flock together. And that’s why we ended up here, together.” Myrtle nodded slowly but somehow it felt wrong hearing this living boy seeing a connection between himself and a ghost. “Maybe. But there is still one big difference between the two of us. My case is over and the file forever closed. Yours isn’t. For you there is still hope out there.”   
It was clear as daylight that Draco didn’t believe her. “I mean it, Draco. Look at yourself. You spend your free time in the girl’s bathroom, crying on the floor and talking to a ghost. Is this what you want to do to handle your problems? Is this how you want to spend your life?” There was no response.

“You are a completely isolated loner”, she said, not even trying to hold back anymore. “Well, takes one to know one”, he deadpanned. “But I am a ghost, Draco. For me it’s okay to be a loner. You are a living human being, pretending to be already dead. For you it is not okay.” Still there was no reaction from Draco. His head hung low, hands rested powerless in his lap, shoulders sunken. All in all he made a pathetic picture of weakness. Myrtle couldn’t stand seeing him so broken. It had something ultimate.   
“I know that it’s not easy for you. I know that your life has been hard and that your situation seems impossible to overcome. But none of this is a reason to be a coward.” Finally his head snapped up. “Watch out Myrtle, you are on thin ice.” He talked in a low and dangerous tone, eyes narrow in anger but Myrtle was relived he had reacted at all. “Keep that, Draco. I am not one of those you can scare and intimate with your dark Malfoy-looks and the ice cold attitude.” 

With a deep sigh she reached out, trying to put a hand on Draco’s shoulder besides knowing better. At the sudden cold his whole body winced but Myrtle didn’t stop.  
“Come on now, Draco! Pull yourself together. Wipe those tears off of your face. Don’t cry over spilt milk, that’s no use to you. What has already happened can’t be changed, you know that. There is no control over the past. But you’ve got control over your future. You need to remind yourself that every cloud has a silver lining. And you will get there, believe me.” “I cannot believe in any silver linings. Not anymore. Not after everything that happened. For me this storm will never end.”  
“I refuse to believe you will just give up.” “I already have. I’m simply not capable of doing what he wants me to do. So I will die when the year is over. And my family will die with me because of my failure.” 

“And you are just going to accept this?”, she asked in disbelief, “Draco, you need to bite the bullet! Get help –” “There. Is. No. Help! Not for me.” By now Draco was screaming at the top of his lungs, but his voice broke with the last words. Myrtle wished more than ever that she still had a body she could hug him with. But she knew Draco was right in some parts. She could neither give him physical support nor could she solve his problems for him. But what she could do was talking. 

“Enough! You’ve been wallowing in pity this whole year, which was fine. It’s not like I’ve been doing anything different for the last fifty years. But that has to stop now. I will not be quiet and watch you walking straight into your doom! You mean something to me, Draco. Which is why I do not tolerate your surrender.” He opened his mouth, ready to defend himself – or to attack her, who knew – but she would have none of it. “Shut up and for once in your life: Listen! You need to get your damn act together! It’s true, I don’t know what is going on with you but I know enough to understand some parts. You’ve got a mission. Given to you as a punishment for something that was not your fault. And everyone, including you, expect you to fail.” What was left of colour dripped from his face.  
“Please do not insult me by assuming I don’t know where the mission is coming from. Even the ghosts know your family and where their loyalty goes to.” For a moment her non existing heart clenched, tortured by the memory of her death, which came through the hands of the exact person who had the loyalty of the Malfoys. “But Draco… You’re not your family. You can choose for yourself. And this year I’ve got to know you. You are not a bad person. The way you were raised is not your fault and nobody can blame a child for following its parents’ path. But now the ball is in your court. You need to make the first step. Before that, no one but you can help.”

Draco stayed silent for a long time after this. Emotions haunted his face so fast, Myrtle could not define them. She knew: If her words hadn’t come through to him now, the boat was missed.   
When he started talking again there was a pain in his voice, which pierced Myrtle’s hollow body. “What can I do? Where can I go?” The hopelessness inside of him was nearly visible but Myrtle sensed a tender scion of faith under it.   
And maybe that was enough for the beginning. Maybe she – a long-dead girl – has been able to plant this small scion. And maybe it could grow into something that would save this boy in front of her. The first step was made.


End file.
